The dreams, aspirations and plans for the Masonic
Service Association by the Executive Commission back in the formative days
of the 1920' s were carefully enumerated in a mimeographed publication, The
M.S.A.

Trestleboard. The designs on that

"trestleboard" have stood the test of time.

In the first issue, dated December 3, 1920 we find the
following comments:

''A. We cannot be sectarian. Postulating in the first
instance Masonry's one dogma, the Fatherhood of God, we cannot and will not
build a program which will disturb the faith of any brother, be he
Mohammedan or Jew, Presbyterian or Episcopalian, Trinitarian or Diest. "

''B. We cannot indulge in political partisan-ship. We
cannot espouse the candidacy of any man, or the political faith of any
party. We can say that the right to vote is a priceless privilege, a weapon
against wrong in the hand of every free citizen. We can bring the Mason to
realize his obligation to vote, but we cannot tell him how to cast that
vote.''

''C. We cannot encroach upon Grand Lodge polity. We have
neither the right nor the desire to interfere with Grand Lodge polity or
discus-sion, much less endeavor to influence Grand Lodge legislation.
Masonic government is of interest to every Mason, and he should exercise his
prerogatives therein, but direction of this function does not fall within
the scope of the Masonic Service Association of the U.S. This Association is
a confederation for a specific purpose as outlined in its Constitution and
By-Laws,
and contemplates no other activity than is described therein."

"D. We cannot encroach upon Local Lodge polity. For
reasons already expressed the Association contemplates no interference with
the activities of any local lodge. The Associa-tion will undertake the
preparation of certain material which it believes will be worthwhile for the
use of local lodges, but the method for us-ing that material must be
determined by the co-operative judgment of each Grand Lodge and its
constitutent lodges. The opinion of those who prepare this material as to
how best it may be utilized will be given, but no lodge or Grand Lodge
should or can be bound thereby."

"The development of the great underlying principles of
Freemasonry is the real task before us. Necessarily it must be undertaken in
a way which will tend to broaden the vision of our brethren. Our exposition
of those principles will be in support of that which is right. Our
principles are external TRUTHS. Our program must make them a living force.
That force will be ammunition against wrong. We may be able to point out the
wrong as a target. We will be content if the Mason comes to learn what the
target is and has the ammunition at hand. The rest we may confidently leave
to him. His Masonic manhood will act with intelligence."

In Trestleboard Number 2, we find a great many more
guidelines which have served your Association well over the years:

.....There seems to be no difference of opinion among
forward-looking Masons of today, that Freemasonry, working through its
membership, should become a more construc-tive agency in our civilization.
If it is to ac-complish this result, Masons must come to realize certain
things, and they must learn to apply Masonic principles to present-day
pro-blems with a new conception of what Freemasonry really is. Some of these
things were gathered together under "Functions" as follows:

" 1. The function of Masonry is not the mere conferring
of degrees. When a brother becomes a Master Mason, the Fraternity's duty
toward him has just begun. He will realize his duty as a Freemason only when
he knows
what Freemasonry really is and what are its aims. Most initiates are
hungry for such teaching. Our lodge officers, chosen from all walks of
life, have seldom the time to study ways and means--other than by 'work'--to
teach the fundamental principles of the Craft and supple-ment the Ritual. It
is a function of this Associa-tion to provide the necessary information and
suggest successful methods.

"2. We must apply methods which shall be interpretative
of the 'work' and of our history, our organization and form of government.
We must translate, in modern terms, that work brought down to us through the
centuries, so that its usefulness may be the better rewarded.

"3. The work before the Fraternity, as con-templated
herein, is one of originality and adaptation. To accomplish it requires that
men charged with its promulgation shall be Masons first--trained and
educated Masons, schooled in the lore and custom of the Craft, and
possessing a vision of the world's problems. They must be able so to
visualise Masonic prin-ciples that the brethren may learn Freemasonry's
solution of those problems.

"4. Our aim is to make our brethren better Masons and to
enable them, by a broader understanding of Masonic principles, to work
effectively for civic righteousness and the bet-terment of humanity.

"Going further, the Commission has stated as the
immediate object of the 'Inculcation of the Principles and Spirit of
Masonry' the following:

"1. To preserve as a landmark of civiliza-tion the
principle of monotheism. The civil government of all nations of the world
must rest upon the common foundation of belief in God.

"2. To re-cast the ideals of Government on the basis of
the recognition of our duties toward others, rather than as at present on
our rights against others; the basing of civilization on declarations of
dependence instead of declarations of independence; on altruism in-stead of
selfishness.

"3. To combat destructive tendencies and agencies
seeking to undermine and destroy free institutions, by teaching,
constructively, the true principles and functions of government and of
civilization.

"4. To arouse the conscience of every in-dividual Mason
to the necessity for his own practical application of Masonic principles to
his activities in life, governmental, social, business and otherwise.

"5. To stimulate charity and benevolence. "Taken
in connection with the pro-nouncements already made in regard to relief and
research work to be undertaken by the Association, it is the judment of your
Executive Commission that the above forms a complete and comprehensive
program calculated to meet the needs of the coming years in a truly Masonic
way."

The Third Trestleboard, dated December 24, 1920 had
these observations:

".....Freemasonry teaches us that the first stone laid
upon that foundation is the Brotherhood of Man. For two centuries
Freemasonry has been inculcating an inter-pretation of this doctrine which
is at once uni-que and practical. Civilization, however, has chosen to make
selfishness the cornerstone of its superstructure. That cornerstone is
crumbl-ing.

"Masonry's task is to place a new cor-nerstone. The
quality of the material of that cornerstone cannot be doubted, but we have
always been taught that each stone must be squared and fitted for the place
it is to occupy. In other words, if we are to impress civilization
with the value of the Brotherhood of Man as a fundamental doctrine, we must
shape it--that is, interpret it--in such a way as to make it available and
understood by men.

"Essentially our study will have three phases:
Historical, general (that is, the theory of government), and modern
application (to America).

"A . HISTORICAL BACKCROUND.

When we come to map out in a practical way the field
covered by the doctrine of the Brotherhood of Man we must consider (I) how
that doctrine has been crystallized into govern-ment; and (2) the part which
Masonry has played in bringing about the result. We shall discuss and study
(3) the lives of the great men who were the instruments through which this
work was accomplished, and (4) the great prin-ciples which actuated them;
(5) how they fought for the incorporation of the fundamentals of religious
liberty in our great state documents, and how they insisted on the
separation of church and state as a defense both for the state and for
religion. We shall also pass in review (6) the obstacles against which they
worked; (7) the anti-Masonic crusade and other historic condi-tions, all of
which have contributed to the mak-ing of America. These are the things which
your Commission believes need to be understood, for inevitably they form the
background for our Masonic activities of today.

''B. CENERAL APPLICATION. It is equally important that
we shall discuss (I) the functions of government, (2) the conditions under
which we live which are the test of that government, (3) the principles
which Masonry has contributed in the past to the end that the government
might be a success, and (4) an in-terpretation of those same principles in
modern terms so that they may continue to be a factor for success.

"Today forces are at work within the body politic to
undermine the foundations of govern-ment. Some of these are active agencies
work-ing in the open; others seek by insidious pro-paganda to accomplish
their ends.

"If we would be honest with ourselves, however, we must
admit that these are not the only undermining forces at work. Indifference
is itself a form of selfishness, and indifference has sometimes written
itself into law. Take, for example, the tendency to organize, legalize and
formalize the duties of the citizen. Lacking the urge of the lessons of
pioneering, which caused each man formerly to want to perform his func-tions
as a citizen, we have now come to the time when we provide by law for the
entire participa-tion of each individual in his government."

"C. AMERICAN APPLICATION. Turn-ing to another phase of
our program, we believe that true patriotism would dictate a study of what
government does for us. Our pride in our own government, and our enthusiasm
for the principles which underline it, will increase as we come to know more
of what is done for us in America, as compared with what other govern-ments
do for their citizens. That the study will also emphasize things which we
may learn from them cannot be doubted.

"We shall find that the Masonic principles which have
been taught and exemplified by the great leaders in American history have
been written into our constitutional form of govern-ment. They are there as
a direct result of Masonic teaching. They constitute the heritage which
Masonry has brought down from the days of feudalism. That heritage is the
body of principles which at the time of the formation of the Grand Lodge of
England could be express-ed only within the confines of a lodge. They are
the principles which Masons of the modern day have neither had to fight nor
work for, and of which they, in common with the world at large, fail to
appreciate the value.

"Ours is the task, therefore, of bringing a keener
realization of the value of these prin-ciples to Masons, and through Masons
to the world; making our citizenry value America and realize something of
what we owe in return. This logically leads us into very practical
fields, and as your Commission interprets it the Plan and Scope already
adopted by the Association points very definitely the way for the
develop-ment of such a program."

The WISDOM of the Founders of the

Masonic Service Association of the U.S. in for-mulating
these basic guidelines, has proved to be the STRENGTH of your Association in
stimulating an awareness in the BEAUTY of the Craft to countless brethren.